“I did really enjoy the episode where Amy was sick. Her lassoing Sheldon into taking care of her goes to my point of Sheldon doing almost anything that is justified in the name of science or reason. In that case, she was sick enough that she needed to be bathed; she needed to have something rubbed on her bare chest; and by the end, she’d done so wrong that when Sheldon found out that she’d lied that she needed to be spanked. The young lady gets exactly what she wants by a young man who’s doing it for different reasons. It’s really brilliant.”

MAYIM BIALIK (Amy)

“The spanking episode. That was fun largely because it was supposed to be off-camera, and at the last minute, Chuck Lorre decided to film it. That was really fun and awkward, right in front of the audience letting it come alive.”

JOHNNY GALECKI (Leonard)

“Penny telling Leonard she loves him is pretty big. We didn’t play it as a watershed moment. It was played as if she’s always known this. It was touching. I also love the moment when Leonard says, ‘I know I propose a lot,’ and then promises that he won’t. It’s one of my favorite Leonard lines to say. To put his own desire aside and say, ‘You tell me when you’re ready, despite what I want in my life right now and with you right now.’ That’s unconditional, selfless love.”

KALEY CUOCO(Penny)

“When Penny said, ‘I love you’ to Leonard. It took her more than five years to say it. That’s why now you know with Penny that whatever she does is real. You know when she said it she truly meant it. That’s why now Leonard is OK with going away and knowing that they’re going to be OK. We did that in one take. Steve came out and said, ‘We’re really happy with that. Do you want to do it again?’ We didn’t want to; it felt perfectly right. I told Johnny: ‘It was so weird — I became Penny in that moment.’ There was no audience, just Leonard and Penny. It was a moment I’ll definitely never forget.”

KUNAL NAYYAR (Raj)

“I’ll always remember this season. This is the season where these guys are getting to the point in their lives now where their priorities are not, ‘Let’s have video game night.’ It’s, ‘I want love. I want a family. I want a relationship. I need a partner in my life.’ That is the season for me; watching them shift from, ‘Let’s buy a time machine,’ to, ‘Am I going to get married to this girl? Am I going to ever find love? Am I ever going to find a partner?'”

SIMON HELBERG (Howard)

“Sheldon and Amy deciding to get physical — but in the context of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a really brilliantly constructed scene where they’re rolling the dice to figure out which article of armor, or clothing, comes off. It’s really an amazing moment and a microcosm of the show. It is the reality of these characters, yet it’s very universal. It’s real to them and what maybe is a small step to other people, is as big of a step to these characters as you can find.”

MELISSA RAUCH (Bernadette)

“The letter episode was so special. I really loved how they showed that aspect of Howard and Bernadette’s marriage. It showed the emotional component of marriage and how Howard was going through this really traumatic event, and they did it together. They’ve always done a good job of showing the love between Howard and Bernadette — even though they bicker and they don’t always see eye to eye at exactly the same time. I just loved how that was a dual effort of helping them come to Howard’s resolution and him talking it out with her.”

STEVE MOLARO“I can’t pick one.

Leonard and Penny saying, ‘I love you’

Raj’s speech in the comic book store about how they’re all a community, if they have each other

Sheldon making Amy his emergency contact

Howard coming back from space. Every character has had these incredible moments this season.

Raj standing in the hall convincing Lucy to go out with him because he swears he’s messed up in the head.

The end of the closet episode when they all tell Howard what might be in the letter and one of them is true.”

This story contains spoilers!

Showrunner Steve Molaro, stars Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik, Kunal Nayyar and Kate Micucci talk with THR about what’s ahead in the final episode of season six.

CBS’ The Big Bang Theory took two small steps for man and not one but two giant leaps for Sheldon and Raj during Thursday’s penultimate episode of its record-breaking sixth season.

During “The Love Spell Potential,” Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) were effectively forced to answer the biggest question facing them as a couple: Will they or won’t they? The answer, revealed during a clever game of Dungeons & Dragons, is … maybe, when the neurotic Sheldon reveals to his girlfriend of three years that he hasn’t ruled out turning their relationship intimate.

“They proceed to role play what is essentially their first sexual experience but it is completely asexual at the same time; I love it,” show runner Steve Molaro tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s funny, weird, nerdy and touching. It’s a huge step forward and at the same time, it isn’t. I don’t know where they go from here but I know they’re moving forward.”

Meanwhile, the lovelorn Raj (Kunal Nayyar) bailed on the D&D game in favor of another date with the equally damaged Lucy (Kate Micucci) who, after attempting to bail when he pushes her forward faster than she’d like, winds up planting a smooch on her boozed up sweetheart.

“He’s found, as he would say, someone who has even more issues than he does and he thinks that’s very attractive in a woman,” Molaro says. “He’s falling for her. They had this sweet, slow-moving, broken relationship and it’s very nice to see them move forward in it. That kiss was weird, sweet and touching and if you can get all those into one moment, it’s pretty great.”

THR hit the Burbank set of The Big Bang Theory to get the scoop on what the latest developments mean for both Raj and Lucy as well as Sheldon and Amy.

Sheldon and Amy“The writers have managed, with all the characters, to have some severe levels of advancement in character growth with very miniscule movements and this is another example of that,” Parsons says of the sexy scene where his D&D character gets down and dirty with Amy’s gaming character. “What’s changed? In some ways, everything you know about Sheldon you begin to look at differently if he’s actually willing to consider sometime in the near future having a physical relationship with Amy. He’s willing to step over a line that he wouldn’t cross before and engage in this imaginary level of it. He’s decided that this person is important enough to him to try to make a change.”

Bialik, meanwhile, says the episode felt like Amy and Sheldon’s own season finale. “We consummate aspects of our relationship through the language of Dungeons & Dragons and it’s a very intimate scene — like the spanking episode — that felt like a very personal thing in our characters’ relationship being played out publicly,” she notes. “That’s as far as Sheldon can go and it’s very sweet. There are ways that every couple manages the challenges they have and Amy and Sheldon are definitely working it out.” As for whether it will make Amy a big D&D fan going forward, Bialik is fairly confident she’ll be eager to play the RPG again.

Raj and Lucy“When the episode starts and things begin to fall apart, I never thought it was going to end with a kiss through a chain-link fence,” Nayyar says of Raj’s lady lovin’ that comes after he pushed Lucy a bit too hard to take greater strides speak up for herself and send her food back. “There was something very beautiful about that scene — she’s a bird in a cage, almost as in life, and is trapped in this metal cage and Raj has to help her out. Through complete frustrating with trying to help her, they find a vulnerable moment together and kiss. I had chain rust under my nose but it was wonderful.” As for what comes next, Nayyar says Raj is going to want to define their relationship and introduce Lucy to his coupled-up friends — both circumstances that could send Lucy running for the nearest bathroom window. “They haven’t talked about boyfriend-girlfriend yet but a part of him wants to lock it down,” Nayyar says, noting he’s enjoying playing a new side of Raj. “He has really found someone and he really believes that this is his chance for love and he wants to introduce her to his friends, which is getting her in a situation where she’s not comfortable and thus helping her evolve more as a person.”

For her part, Micucci says Lucy’s social anxiety won’t fade away following her kiss with Raj. “If anything, they’ve gotten worse because she’s trying to figure out dealing with a guy,” she says, noting she identifies with her character. “Raj’s understanding of Lucy and her really wanting to make this work with him keeps them going and brings them closer.”

As for what comes next week when TV’s No. 1 scripted comedy wraps its sixth season, Molaro notes the series will feature another game-changing moment as it has so frequently this season with Penny’s profession of love to Leonard, Raj’s kiss and Sheldon and Amy’s intimacy discussion. “There will be a watershed moment at the end for at least one of the characters; there will be a major breakthrough,” he says.

What did you think of Sheldon and Amy — and Raj and Lucy’s — big moments? Do you think there’s a future for both couples? Hit the comments with your thoughts. The Big Bang Theory season finale airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBS.

The CBS comedy “The Big Bang Theory” has been on the air for six seasons, enough time for the cast to develop an easy rapport that includes endless teasing. Currently, the seven main cast members are discussing how they got their SAG cards, with two-time Emmy winner Jim Parsons, who plays the brilliant but socially inept Sheldon, noting he got his for a commercial. “Was it the one where you became a wolf?” asks Johnny Galecki, who portrays Sheldon’s roommate and co-worker, Leonard. Parsons then has to explain, in his trademark deadpan, “It was for Quiznos. I didn’t want Quiznos, and someone asked if I was raised by wolves, and you learned I was.”

Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny, is being teased by Kunal Nayyar, who plays Raj, that “she was handed her card when she came out of the womb.” Nayyar adds, “I got mine from playing a terrorist on ‘NCIS.’ I had a fake mustache. Mark Harmon punched me in the face.” Galecki can’t resist asking, “What was your mode of terror? Besides the mustache?” Galecki believes he received his card working on the film “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.” He says, “Though, considering my memory of the craft services table, I doubt that was really union.”

Mayim Bialik, who first appeared at the end of Season 3 as Amy, got hers playing an urchin on the TV show “Beauty and the Beast.” Simon Helberg, who stars as Howard, got his on “Undeclared.” He says, “I remember I couldn’t afford to pay the SAG dues because I made less on the show than the dues required.” And Melissa Rauch, who joined the show in 2009 as Bernadette, thought she hit it big when she got hers from a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial. “I thought I was going to be like the Dell Guy,” she says. “I was like, ‘How am I going to handle this?’ Then it only ended up airing regionally. I had mansions picked out.”

On the secret to building a great ensemble:

Johnny Galecki: I really don’t know. If there were ingredients for it, every cast would have it. I do remember from the first table reading I felt it, I felt how everyone’s choices served everyone else’s.

Jim Parsons: Even being part of it, you don’t feel you can identify it. Everybody does their job well, and that’s the way it’s always been.

Galecki: We’ve all seen great actors and actresses who are missing a certain chemistry. And it’s not about getting along or not getting along—

Kaley Cuoco: Or being good actors.

Galecki: I don’t think it’s necessary that we all get along; it just happened.

Simon Helberg: I think it’s also about just listening to each other—

Galecki: What?

Helberg: Never mind, I zoned out. But there is an understanding of the rhythm and the song we’re all singing.

Cuoco: Especially with this show, there is quite a rhythm. We just know how to work with each other. You kind of have to dive in.

Kunal Nayyar: We definitely got more comfortable with each other, but we knew something was special in the pilot.

Melissa Rauch: I was a fan of the show before I joined the cast, and when I came for my first episode, I remember being blown away by how everyone nailed every single word that came out of their mouth at the table read. I had never really experienced anything like that.

Galecki: Who was nicest to you?

Rauch: You all were jerks, pretty much.

Mayim Bialik: I felt the same [at my first table read], and I think I attributed it to “Oh, they’ve been doing this so long.” But now that I see more of the individual talent and professional camaraderie, I think it probably was like that from the get-go, and Melissa and I get to reap the benefits of getting to be added to such an amazing ensemble.

Helberg: But it’s a testament to you guys because you didn’t just pick up on our genius, so to speak. You were able to seamlessly enter into this while also adding a wonderful dimension to it.

On watching the show grow over six seasons:Helberg: It’s been fun watching the growth of the characters. People were hard on us when we first premiered, sort of like, “It’s just nerds and some ditzy blonde!” I feel that’s changed.

Cuoco: It’s hard to tell what an entire series is going to be based on the first few episodes, or even on the first season. And it’s sad because you see great casts and good ideas that don’t get that opportunity to grow and show what it could turn into. We were lucky they stuck by us.

Parsons: I think the best thing that ever happened to us was not being some sort of megahit right out of the gate.

Helberg: And the [2007–2008] writers’ strike. They showed our episodes over and over during the strike.

Cuoco: I also think forcing people to watch them on planes was great. You either had to watch or jump off.

Helberg: Strikes and captive audiences were good to us.

Parsons: Our ratings weren’t remarkable at first, but we had two or three seasons under our belts, and we weren’t showing up here thrown off our mark by some sort of sudden success. We just did what we had always done, as did the writers. It was very healthy.

Galecki: There wasn’t a lot of attention paid to multicamera shows at the time.

Parsons: Other than claiming they were dead.

On what they remember most about landing their roles:

Galecki: I remember Jim and I did a chemistry read together.

Cuoco: Was there ever an option of you playing different roles?

Galecki: When [series creator] Chuck Lorre first called me they didn’t even have anything written yet, and he initially mentioned Sheldon. But two weeks later, he faxed me some pages, and I really liked the idea of the love story with Leonard and Penny. I hadn’t had the chance to play that as an actor.

Cuoco: I auditioned three times and got turned down three times. I’ve known Chuck for years, and initially he said, “We’ll work together eventually; I just don’t think it’s going to be this.” But a year went by, and the character changed a lot.

Nayyar: I had just moved to L.A. from England and was about to sign with an agency. As I signed the papers they said they had an audition on Monday for “The Big Bang Theory.” I joked, “I’m going to go and book that!”

Cuoco: You know, that doesn’t happen.

Rauch: Were there a bunch of guys who looked like you?

Nayyar: There were some Indians, but there were also Koreans and Asians. The guy was called Dave at the time.

Helberg: I remember going in, and I met Kaley; the next day I read that you got the part. But I hadn’t been called yet. A whole week went by where I didn’t hear anything. And I thought they clearly were scouring the country for any other option but me. In fact, the deadline passed, and it was the next morning I got the call. They said, “I know it’s past the deadline, but we want to offer Simon the part.” It was clearly an easy decision.

Cuoco: I thought for sure I didn’t have the part too. I’ve learned after so many years in this business that nothing is set in stone until you’re on set. I’ve been told I was the choice for years and never got hired. So I never go there in my mind.

Rauch: I just remember for some reason I became Canadian in the audition—I kept saying, “Aboot.” When I was done Chuck said, “Are you Canadian?” I don’t know what happened. I was sure I didn’t get it.

Bialik: I remember it came down to two of us, and the other girl was a totally different type. She was actually going back to grad school, and it was the last audition she went on, and she told me she was kind of hoping she didn’t get it—she had a whole new life planned. I was just told to mimic Jim Parsons. I said, “Who’s Jim Parsons?” So I Googled you.

Parsons: That’s fair.

Bialik: I also remember, the week they offered me a contract, I thought it was my last episode. I just thought it had come to an end, the character was done. It was Shabbat, and I was about to shut off my phone, and my manager called and said, “Here’s the best Shabbat present you ever got: They’re offering you a contract.”

Sheldon Cooper might have wanted to celebrate an Emmy nomination with a Settlers of Catan tournament or a pilgrimage to the comic book shop, but actor Jim Parsonshad a much simpler plan Thursday to enjoy his fourth nomination for lead actor in a comedy series for “The Big Bang Theory.”

He said he plans to perform in “Harvey,” the play he’s starring in on Broadway. “I’ll also celebrate with my new favorite drink, a green juice I’m addicted to at a juice bar near me,” he said. “I know it sounds lame, but that’s what I’m doing.”

Parsons has twice won an Emmy for playing Cooper, the uber-nerdy physicist in the hit CBS sitcom, but he said that even going on six years of playing the character, there are still things that remain a challenge.

“The hardest part of playing Sheldon is memorizing the damn thing,” he said. “I’m so grateful we shoot on Tuesday nights. I have all of Saturday and Sunday to cocoon up in my house and recite scientific terms over and over again until they somehow just fall out of my mouth.”

Though costar Mayim Bialik received her first nomination for playing Sheldon’s girlfriend, the rest of the cast was shut out, including Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco.

“I would have preferred to have the whole cast of ‘Big Bang’ nominated,” Parsons said. “But I realize that’s the same thing as a mother saying her child is pretty.”

Luckily, there’s no apparent bad blood between Galecki and Parsons. Not even any friendly rivalry.